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NPPR Spring
Conference draws more than 550 participants.
The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR)�one of US-AEP�s
partners for environmental professional development in Asia�held its 1999
Spring Conference in Washington, DC, April 6-9. With more than 550
participants from nine countries, the annual conference focused on the
latest initiatives in pollution prevention (P2) policy, regulation, and
technical assistance, as well as best methods for incorporating P2 into
government policy at all levels. Support from US-AEP�s Environmental
Exchange Program, administered by the Institute of International Education,
enabled eight participants from Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand to
attend the conference.
According to NPPR�s International Coordinator Joe Pringle, in an
interview with the Asia Environmental Review, NPPR has made great
strides in creating roundtables of interested stakeholders in Asia. "In
every single country we�ve working in," he stated, "we�ve seen a tremendous
commitment toward building capacity for implementing cleaner production and
improving coordination among key stakeholders." The Spring Conference
contributed to this effort by enabling Asian stakeholders to share
information with their U.S. counterparts. The entire Pringle interview can
be found on the US-AEP website at
https://www.usaep.org/articles/article32.htm.
Another NPPR event will take place later this month�the Second
Asia-Pacific Cleaner Production Roundtable and Trade Expo in Brisbane,
Australia. This conference will offer Asian stakeholders further
opportunities to build knowledge and share ideas about cleaner production.
Look for a story on the roundtable in a future edition of UPDATE.
US-AEP/Korea assists U.S. firm in multimillion dollar technology sale.
ROYCO, an environmental technology firm in Santa Ana, California, has
signed a sales contract valued at $2.5 million with Korea�s Yuik
Construction Company. Finalized in March, the deal was facilitated by US-AEP�s
Office of Technology Cooperation in Seoul, which has counseled ROYCO since
1997 on local market conditions and sales opportunities. The U.S. firm�s
equipment will extract diesel oil and gasoline from the 3 million tons of
scrap plastic generated each year by Korean agriculture and industry. With
ROYCO�s system, 1,000 tons of scrap plastic will be treated daily. ROYCO
will also assist in system operation and maintenance, as well as analysis of
end-product oils. Further, with support from US-AEP/Korea, the U.S. firm
will help to boost the current 20 percent recycling rate for Korea�s scrap
plastic. ROYCO will collaborate with the Korea Resources Recovery and
Reutilization Corporation to establish 15 scrap plastic collection sites
throughout the country within the next five years.
US-AEP
promotes environmental due diligence at Bankers Congress.
More than 250 delegates from 25 Asian countries gathered April 6-8 at the
Asia Pacific Bankers Congress '99 in Manila, Philippines, to learn more
about the link between banking and the environment. The Congress, Asia's
largest learning conference and expo for bankers, was organized by the Asian
Bankers Association (ABA) and the Association of Development Financing
Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP).
The highlight of the program was the Asian Banking Awards '99 ceremony,
which included an award for Best Environmental Project or Program. Russ
Thirkell, regional manager for US-AEP's Environmental Exchange Program,
presented the award to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). DBP
has participated in several activities under US-AEP�s environmental due
diligence initiative, such as workshops and study tours, and has made great
strides in achieving environmentally sound lending. The Congress also
featured the award of a grant to ABA and ADFIAP from International Resources
Group, contractor for US-AEP�s Technical Services and Support Contract. The
grant will support future Bankers Congresses, as well as the creation of a
"Green Banking" section in the Asian Banking Digest, the official
publication of ADFIAP and ABA. Six articles will be published during the
next year for the Digest�s 3,000 readers.
New on the
US-AEP website: the latest on training and GCC activities.
The schedule for US-AEP�s training programs, administered by the
Institute of International Education, has been added to the calendar of
conferences and events on the US-AEP website. New energy and global climate
change events are also featured.
Alaskan
firms present environmental technologies to Korean audience.
US-AEP�s Office of Technology Cooperation in Seoul and the Alaska State
Office in Seoul held an "Alaska Environmental Seminar" on March 30 to
introduce Alaskan environmental technologies to an interested Korean
audience. Representatives from the Korean government and business community
attended the seminar, which featured presentations by five Alaskan firms on
water and wastewater treatment, solid waste management, and oil spill
prevention and response technology. The Alaskan firms used a US-AEP
Environmental Technology Fund grant, administered by the National
Association of State Development Agencies, to help with the expenses of the
trip.
Clean
technology workshop available for Asian electronics industry.
US-AEP�s Environmental Exchange Program, administered by the Institute of
International Education (IIE), will hold a training workshop on "Clean
Technology and Green Productivity for the Electronics Industry" in
Singapore, May 4-6. The regional workshop will illustrate clean technology
and pollution prevention trends and opportunities in the production of
electronics. Topics to be covered include incorporating environmental
factors in product design, marketing financial benefits of clean technology
processes to senior management, and resource conservation. A case study and
site visit will demonstrate concepts presented at the workshop. To find out
more about the workshop and how to register, please contact Kavita Gandhi in
Singapore at 65-331-1586 or John Speicher at IIE by fax (202-326-7709) or
e-mail
jspeicher@iie.org.
Policy
Group hosts second session on renewable energy.
On April 20, US-AEP�s Policy Group will host the second brown bag lunch
forum on renewable energy. John Ryan of Hagler Bailly will moderate a panel
discussion featuring renewable energy technology experts from the U.S.
Hydropower Council, the Geothermal Energy Association, and the American Wind
Energy Association. The forum will be held at 12:30pm on the 7th floor of
1720 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC. For more information, contact Brenda
Bateman at
bbateman@usaep.org. |
